The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Over the next few years, consumers will transition from incandescent light bulbs to more efficient light bulbs such as compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs and light emitting diode (LED) light bulbs in an effort to reduce power consumption. Cost and performance will be a factor affecting how quickly the transition will occur and which light technology will be selected by consumers.
LED light bulbs include multiple diodes that are powered using direct current (DC) power. Typically, alternating current (AC) power needs to be converted by a rectifier to generate a regulated current output at low voltage. In addition, during operation, the LED light bulbs should be protected from line-voltage fluctuations. LED light output is proportional to current. Therefore, changes in supply voltage can cause a disproportionate change in current, which can cause light output to vary.
During dimming, CFL or LED light bulbs will sometimes turn off before a slider of a dimming switch reaches a lowest setting. After being dimmed to a low light level and switched off, CFL or LED bulbs will sometimes not turn on until a position of the slider is increased. This can be especially challenging in 3-way configurations where lights can be turned on/off from different locations.
Operation of dimmable CFL and LED light bulbs can also be influenced by line voltage fluctuations. Incandescent bulbs will sometimes dim or flicker when a device such as air-conditioning or a hair dryer is used. Likewise, dimmed CFL or LED light bulbs can actually turn off or flicker excessively.